Company:Clinkle

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Short description: Former mobile payments company
Clinkle
TypePrivately held company
IndustryMobile payments
FatePivot
FoundedPalo Alto, California,
United States (2012 (2012))
FounderLucas Duplan[1][2][3][4]
Headquarters
San Francisco
,
United States
Key people
Jim Breyer
Richard Branson
Barry McCarthy
ProductsClinkle App
Clinkle Card
Treats SDK

Clinkle was a mobile payments company founded in 2012. In 2013 they raised $25 million[5] and the product launched to college students on September 24, 2014.[6]

History

Clinkle was founded in 2011 by Lucas Duplan, then a computer science student at Stanford University.[7][8] Duplan had decided to work on mobile payments during a study abroad program in London after his freshman year.[8] Upon returning to Stanford, Duplan received guidance from Mehran Sahami, a professor who taught the university's introductory programming methodology class.[9] Clinkle rented a house in Palo Alto, California using money from Duplan's parents and a summer program through Highland Capital Partners.[10][11] With approximately a dozen students building the app, it ran a beta test at Stanford in which testers could send payments to each other.[8]

Through VMware co-founder Diane Greene, Duplan met Accel partner Jim Breyer, who became interested in the company after discussing it with Stanford professors and graduate students.[7] Breyer became an investor following his first meeting and product demonstration with Duplan and participated in a round of funding for the company.[12] By June 2013, Clinkle had raised $25 million from a broad range of investors, including Greene, Andreessen Horowitz, Intel Capital, Intuit, Peter Thiel, Owen Van Natta, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.[13][14][15][16][17][18] The funding amounted to the largest seed round in Silicon Valley.[19] Shortly after, Duplan moved the 50-person company from Mountain View to San Francisco .[20] In 2016 a photo was leaked of CEO Duplan and Richard Branson burning wads of fake $100 bills.[21]

In October 2013, former Netflix chief financial officer Barry McCarthy became Clinkle's chief operating officer,[22] and two more former Netflix executives later joined as vice presidents.[23] McCarthy left Clinkle after less than 5 months at the company.[24] Near the end of the year, the company laid off a quarter of its employees.[25] In 2015, seven core employees quit and the remaining team was believed to be mostly consultants providing support and no more than 12, down from 70 several years ago.[26] Forbes reported in January 2016 that investors were losing patience with the lack of any market product and were requesting a return of funds.[21]

In November 2014 Lucas Duplan was listed on Forbes 30 Under 30,[27] a pick the publication regretted nine years later, placing Duplan on its Hall of Shame, featuring ten picks it wished it could take back.[28][29]

Product

Clinkle released an app for download on Google Play and the iTunes Store. Clinkle first launched on college campuses and targeted merchants near college campuses.[7][30][31] Clinkle announced on September 26, 2013, that after two months of opening their college waitlists, over 100,000 students had signed up despite no clear product description.[32][33] Until September 2014, the app had very limited functionality and only allowed users to join a waitlist with a launch date of September 2014.[34]

Before launching, the company had released limited information about its product, despite significant press coverage.[citation needed] The product was intended to include a mobile app that served as an online wallet.[34] Wallets would be linked to existing credit cards and bank accounts.[7] A June 2013 report by TechCrunch stated that the app was going to use high-frequency sound to send payments between devices; however, the section was shortly retracted.[9] Clinkle confirmed that the product would not require near field communication, a wireless technology used by Google Wallet and Apple Pay.[7] Clinkle stated that the product would also provide merchants with information about their customers for the purpose of targeted sales promotions.[11]

Despite its initial launch as an alternative payments processing system, it lost its technological edge to new products like Venmo, a peer-to-peer payments app, and later Apple Pay, which achieved what the company had originally set out to do.[21] The company decided to pivot, and launched to the public on September 24, 2014, a new flagship downloadable application aimed at college students.[6]

The launch debuted a Clinkle Card that allowed users to earn rewards for paying at stores and online. After every seventh payment, Clinkle card users were awarded a "Treat" to send to a friend, which had a chance of earning the recipient a free purchase. [35]

References

  1. ↑ Shontell, Alyson. "A bunch of Clinkle employees just left and the startup apparently tried to sell itself to Apple". https://www.businessinsider.com/a-bunch-of-clinkle-employees-just-left-and-the-startup-has-apparently-been-trying-to-sell-itself-to-apple-2015-5. 
  2. ↑ "Clinkle Implodes As Employees Quit In Protest Of CEO" (in en-US). 16 May 2015. https://social.techcrunch.com/2015/05/15/clunk/. 
  3. ↑ Shontell, Alyson. "A SILICON VALLEY DISASTER: A 21-Year-Old Stanford Kid Got $30 Million, Then Everything Blew Up". https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-story-of-clinkle-2014-4. 
  4. ↑ Mac, Ryan. "Clinkle Up In Smoke As Investors Want Their Money Back" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/01/22/clinkle-up-in-smoke-as-investors-want-their-money-back/. 
  5. ↑ "Mobile payments startup Clinkle nabs $25M in early investments" (in en). CNET. 2013-06-27. https://www.cnet.com/news/mobile-payments-startup-clinkle-nabs-25m-in-early-investments/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "$30 Million And Three Years Later, Mysterious Payments App Clinkle Finally Launches". http://www.businessinsider.com/clinkle-payments-app-is-live-2014-9. Retrieved 16 October 2016. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Wingfield, Nick (June 27, 2013). "Silicon Valley Luminaries Bet on Clinkle, a Payments Start-Up". The New York Times. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/silicon-valley-luminaries-bet-on-clinkle-a-payments-start-up/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Gallagher, Billy (June 27, 2013). "Clinkle Raises Celebrity-Filled $25M Round As It Gears Up To Eliminate The Physical Wallet". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/27/clinkle-raises-celebrity-filled-25m-round-as-it-gears-up-to-eliminate-the-physical-wallet/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Roose, Kevin (June 28, 2013). "How a 22-Year-Old Stanford Grad Won Silicon Valley's Money Chase". http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/this-22-year-old-just-won-silicon-valley.html. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  10. ↑ "Highland Capital Partners Announces Summer@Highland 2011 Teams". Highland Capital Partners. July 20, 2011. http://www.hcp.com/news/newsdetails.php/id/92871. Retrieved April 27, 2014. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Efrati, Amir (April 3, 2013). "Startup's Deep Roots: Stanford". https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324020504578396912443242512. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  12. ↑ Dembosky, April (June 27, 2013). "Facebook backers make big early bet on college start-up". http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e0329dcc-df1e-11e2-881f-00144feab7de.html. Retrieved January 26, 2014. 
  13. ↑ Tam, Donna (June 27, 2013). "Mobile payments startup Clinkle nabs $25M in early investments". http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57591249-93/mobile-payments-startup-clinkle-nabs-$25m-in-early-investments/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  14. ↑ Nusca, Andrew (June 27, 2013). "With $25m in the bank, Clinkle takes on mobile payments". ZDNet. http://www.zdnet.com/with-25m-in-the-bank-clinkle-takes-on-mobile-payments-7000017399/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  15. ↑ Wasserman, Todd (June 27, 2013). "Startup Clinkle Gets $25 Million to Create Mobile Payment Standard". Mashable. http://mashable.com/2013/06/27/clinkle-25-million/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  16. ↑ "Startup Clinkle Has A High Frequency Plan To Push Mobile Payments". ReadWrite. June 27, 2013. http://readwrite.com/2013/06/27/startup-clinkle-has-a-high-frequency-plan-to-push-mobile-payments. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  17. ↑ Geron, Tomio (June 27, 2013). "Payments Startup Clinkle Raises $25 Million Seed Round". https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2013/06/27/payments-startup-clinkle-raises-25-million-seed-round/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  18. ↑ Mac, Ryan. "Clinkle Up In Smoke As Investors Want Their Money Back" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/01/22/clinkle-up-in-smoke-as-investors-want-their-money-back/. 
  19. ↑ Drake, Sarah (December 4, 2013). "Payments startup Clinkle nabs more talent from Netflix as it rounds out its exec team". Silicon Valley Business Journal (American City Business Journals). http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/12/04/payments-startup-clinkle-nabs-more.html. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  20. ↑ Grant, Rebecca (June 27, 2013). "Clinkle raises massive $25M seed round to transform how we pay for things". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2013/06/27/clinkle-raises-one-of-largest-seed-rounds-ever-to-transform-how-we-pay-for-things/. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Mac, Ryan (September 23, 2013). "Clinkle Up In Smoke As Investors Want Their Money Back". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/01/22/clinkle-up-in-smoke-as-investors-want-their-money-back/#34f7403c35b6. Retrieved 16 October 2016. 
  22. ↑ Primack, Dan (October 22, 2013). "Ex-Netflix CFO joins stealth payments startup Clinkle". CNNMoney.com. http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/22/netflix-payments-clinkle/. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  23. ↑ Lawler, Ryan (December 4, 2013). "Stealthy Payments Startup Clinkle Brings On Two Former Netflixers To Fill Out Its Exec Ranks". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2013/12/04/clinkle-is-the-new-netflix/. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  24. ↑ Rey, Jason Del (13 March 2014). "Clinkle's Still a Hot Mess as Its Big Shot COO Departs (Updated)". http://www.recode.net/2014/3/13/11624542/clinkles-still-a-hot-mess-as-its-big-shot-coo-departs. Retrieved 16 October 2016. 
  25. ↑ Primack, Dan (December 9, 2013). "Layoffs at stealth payment startup Clinkle". CNNMoney.com. http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/12/09/layoffs-clinkle/. Retrieved January 26, 2014. 
  26. ↑ Constine, Josh (16 May 2015). "Clinkle Implodes As Employees Quit In Protest Of CEO". https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/15/clunk/. Retrieved 16 October 2016. 
  27. ↑ Vardi, Nathan. "30 Under 30 Finance: The Top Young Traders, Bankers And Dealmakers" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2014/01/06/30-under-30-finance-the-top-young-traders-bankers-and-dealmakers-2/. 
  28. ↑ Team, Forbes Under 30. "Hall Of Shame: The 10 Most Dubious People Ever To Make Our 30 Under 30 List" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesunder30team/2023/11/28/hall-of-shame-the-10-most-dubious-people-ever-to-make-our-30-under-30-list/. 
  29. ↑ Porter, Jon (2023-11-29). "Forbes publishes 30 Under 30 “Hall of Shame.”" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/29/23980764/forbes-publishes-30-under-30-hall-of-shame. 
  30. ↑ Del Rey, Jason (June 27, 2013). "Pressure Is on Stealth Payments Startup Clinkle as It Raises $25 Million From Big-Name Investors". All Things Digital. http://allthingsd.com/20130627/pressure-is-on-stealth-payments-startup-clinkle-as-it-raises-25-million-from-big-name-investors/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  31. ↑ Primack, Dan (June 27, 2013). "Clinkle raises $25 million to kill Square". CNNMoney.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140113022103/http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/06/27/clinkle-25-million-square/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  32. ↑ Huspeni, Andrea (2013). "Richard Branson Invests in a Startup That No One Understands Yet". http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228593/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  33. ↑ Fitchard, Kevin (September 26, 2013). "Clinkle becomes a tech celebrity magnet, landing Richard Branson as an investor". GigaOM. http://gigaom.com/2013/09/26/clinkle-becomes-a-tech-celebrity-magnet-landing-richard-branson-as-an-investor/. Retrieved January 19, 2014. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Fitchard, Kevin (June 27, 2013). "Stanford's $25M secret: Payments startup Clinkle wants to make your college cashless". GigaOM. http://gigaom.com/2013/06/27/stanfords-25m-secret-payments-startup-clinkle-wants-to-make-your-college-cashless/. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  35. ↑ Constine, Josh (23 September 2014). "Mobile Wallet Laughingstock Clinkle Finally Launches To Let You Pay Friends And Earn "Treats"". https://techcrunch.com/2014/09/23/clinkle/. Retrieved 16 October 2016. 

Further reading

External links



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